John 12-21: a Pentecostal Commentary

By Dr. Matthew N. O. Sadiku

Every serious student of the Bible desires to understand the text, discover the biblical principles, and apply the truths to his/her life. This commentary is designed to help students, pastors, and Bible teachers understand the gospel of John in a simple manner. Working from the popular New International Version (NIV), the author provides helpful commentary on the text verse by verse.

This verse-by-verse commentary is different from others in two respects. First, it is brief, while some commentaries are unnecessarily wordy and verbose. Second, it is Pentecostal in outlook. This implies that we generally adhere to the doctrine of biblical inerrancy and adopt a literalist approach to the interpretation of the Bible.

The fourth gospel has been called the gospel of belief. It is different from the other three gospels. Johns gospel is a profound witness to Christ as the Son of God. Yet it is easy to readthe reason new Christians are asked to begin reading the Bible by starting with John. John is the deepest gospel of all; it brings us closer to Jesus than any other. Those who study it reap great rewards.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jul 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490761794

Dr. Matthew N. O. Sadiku

Matthew N. O. Sadiku is a professor emeritus at Prairie View A & M University, Prairie View, Texas. He is a man of many talents with a broad experience in writing, publishing, education, theology, counseling, and engineering. He is the author of over 1,000 professional articles and over 100 books including Secrets of Successful Marriages, Enemies of Your Marriage, and commentaries on all the books of the New Testament Bible. His books are used worldwide, and some of them have been translated into Korean, Chinese, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. Janet O. Sadiku studied nursing science from 1975 to 1980 at the University of Ife, now known as Obafemi Awolowo University. She has worked as a nurse, educator, and church minister in Nigeria, United Kingdom, and Canada. She is presently retired with her husband in West Palm Beach, FL.

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Copyright 2015 Dr. Matthew N. O. Sadiku.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Unless otherwise stated, scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the New King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked TLB are from The Living Bible.

Scripture quotations marked RSV are from the Revised Standard Version

ISBN: 978-1-4907-6178-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-6180-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-6179-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015910314

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CONTENTS

Preface

Abbreviations

1 Mary Anoints Jesus

2 Jesus Rides Into Jerusalem

3 Jesus Predicts His Death

4 The Unbelief Of The Crowd

5 The Foot Washing

6 Jesus Predicts His Betrayal

7 Jesus Comforts His Disciples

8 Jesus Promises The Holy Spirit

9 The Vine And Its Branches

10 The World Hates The Disciples

11 The Work Of The Holy Spirit

12 From Sorrow To Joy

13 Jesus Prays - Part 1

14 Jesus Prays - Part 2

15 The Passion Of Jesus - Part 1

16 The Passion Of Jesus - Part 2

17 The Judgment Of Pilate

18 The Crucifixion Of Jesus

19 The Death And Burial Of Jesus

20 The Resurrection Of Jesus – Part 1

21 The Resurrection Of Jesus – Part 2

22 Jesus Appears To Seven Disciples

23 Epilogue: Supremacy Of Love

Selected Bibliography

To

Chinyere and Joy Totty

PREFACE

Earnest Christians are hungry for information that makes their Bible come alive. The Christian life can be described as getting to know God better every day. Every Christian should regularly—daily—read the Word of God. We should find time for quiet or personal devotions. The reason we have so many bad days is that we do not spend time with God. We must spend time with God if we want His blessings on our lives and to hear from Him.

For over 20 years I have been using commentaries in my devotions. The blessings derived from the commentaries are overwhelming. I am writing this commentary to share some of those blessings and lessons I have learned over the years.

This commentary provides verse-by-verse exposition and application on the second half of John. It is different from others in two respects. First, it is brief while some commentaries are wordy and verbose. This commentary does not delve into critical and exegetical details. Therefore, the limits of this commentary forbid that we consider all the views concerning any issue, but an attempt will be made to provide a brief, sound, yet scholarly view.

Second, it is Pentecostal in outlook. This implies that we generally adhere to the doctrine of biblical inerrancy and adopt a literalist approach to the interpretation of the Bible. Pentecostal doctrines include speaking in tongues, gifts of the Holy Spirit, signs and wonders, divine inspiration, divine healing, Christian prophets, apostles today, to mention but a few. The early church was basically Pentecostal in nature, i.e. it exercised considerable freedom in using the gifts of the Holy Spirit in her life and worship. Although the book is written from Pentecostal perspective, I draw ideas from scholars from all denominations and hope that the book serve all Christians.

It is not easy to write a commentary on any book in the Bible. In order to provide a readable text, this commentary is based on the New International Version (NIV) translation. The commentary is for laymen, pastors, teachers, and students of the Word. It is designed to enrich your quiet time or personal study by making the commentary clear and simple. With your Bible in one hand and this commentary in the other, you will be able to unpack the deep truths of God’s Word. It is my prayer that this commentary brings you both delight and insight in understanding the Word of God.

I owe a great deal to all who have written on the gospel of John before me. It is my pleasure and honor to thank Bishop Victor Abia and Elijah Adeoye for reviewing the manuscript. I owe special thanks to my wife for her support and prayer.

ABBREVIATIONS

CHAPTER 1

MARY ANOINTS JESUS

John 12:1-11

Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

Verses 1-3: Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

1 John first provides the setting for the anointing. He last places Jesus in Ephraim with His disciples (11:54). Six days before the Passover (Sunday), Jesus comes back to Bethany. The Judean Passover is mentioned three times in this gospel (2:13; 6:4; 12:1). This calendar observation is the source of a three-year ministry for Jesus.

Bethany is where Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, lives with his two sisters, Martha and Mary. The account of Mary’s anointing Christ is also found in Matthew 26:1-13 and Mark 14:3-9.

2 At Bethany, a suburb of Jerusalem, a dinner is given in honor of Jesus. Instead of informing the religious authorities about Jesus’ whereabouts, they give a befitting dinner. This dinner takes place in the house of Simon the ex-leper (Matthew 26:6-13), who was possibly healed of his leprosy by Jesus. Martha is involved in serving the meal. Like Martha, Christians ought to be engaged in active service to the Lord. Lazarus is among those reclining at the table with Jesus.

3 Mary takes about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume, pours it on Jesus’ feet, and wipes His feet with her hair, expressing her great devotion. As a result, the house is filled with the fragrance of the perfume. She is not bothered by the shame she may face as a result of her action. She is more concerned with pouring out her love for her Master. Love is lavish. Like David, Mary would not give to the Lord that which cost her nothing (2 Sam. 24:24).¹ We are not told why Mary does this. She is possibly expressing her gratitude for what Jesus did to her brother.

The Murmuring of Judas

Verses 4-8: But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵ Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages. ⁶ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷ Leave her alone, Jesus replied. "It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."

4 The word but marks a contrast between Mary’s selfless action and Judas’ selfish attitude. Judas Iscariot is one of Jesus disciples. He will betray Jesus later. In fact, every time the Evangelist mentions Judas, he presents him as a betrayer (e.g. 6:71; 13:2). Judas objects to Mary’s anointing of Jesus. He considers her action to be doubly extravagant and a waste of resources. He does not understand that devotion cannot be measured in terms of dollars.

5 Judas raises his voice in protest, Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages. As mentioned above, Mary’s perfume is costly. It is worth 300 denarii, equal to the wages of a common laborer for a year at that time. His suggestion is that it would have been better to sell the perfume and give the money to the poor. The poor could have been greatly benefited from such a large sum of money.

6 Judas suggests this not because he cares about the poor. He is a greedy thief. As the treasurer for the Twelve, he keeps the money bag and helps himself to what is put in it. The money bag is used to meet the needs of Jesus and His disciples. Judas steals from the bag. He is the greedy materialist of his day. This is the most explicit evaluation of Judas in the four gospels.

7 Jesus defends Mary’s action. He sharply rebukes Judas: Leave her alone. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. Jesus sees Mary’s anointing as a preparation for His death and burial; it is a symbol of His soon coming burial, which will be just about a few days from now. She has done a beautiful thing for Jesus (Mark 14:6).

8 Jesus continues by saying that they will always have the poor among them, but He will not be them with very long. There is always more opportunities to alleviate poverty. The disciples, including Judas, need to keep their priorities straight. There will be no shortage of opportunities to help the poor (Deuteronomy 15:11). They will not always have Jesus with them.

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

Verses 9-11: Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, ¹¹ for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.

9 A large crowd of Jews who are celebrating the Passover in Jerusalem find out that Jesus is in Bethany, two miles away. They come to Bethany to see Jesus and Lazarus in particular, whom Jesus has raised from the dead. They have heard about Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the dead. They are curious to see things for themselves. Thus Lazarus is attracting others to Christ.

10 The chief priests (mostly Sadducees) make plans to kill Lazarus just as they are planning to kill Jesus (11:50-53). The belief of the crowd drives the religious leaders to further plotting. Since the chief priests do not believe in resurrection, Lazarus’ being alive challenges one of their fundamental beliefs. Lazarus’s very life provides a ground for faith